There is an increasing recognition of the international presence and regulatory influence of the EU in competition policy. Despite a scholarly focus on its international dimension, the issue of nationality-based (non-) discrimination has insufficiently been investigated in the existing literature on EU competition policy. Thus, this research aims to fill this gap in the literature by examining whether the EU internally and externally utilizes its competition rules for the objective of promoting (potential) national and European champions, while disadvantaging non-EU based companies operating inside and outside the European internal market. Empirical findings validate two hypotheses of this research: that the supranational institutional setting of the EU in competition policy constrains the ability of member states to use their competition policies for neomercantilist, and even for protectionist purposes; and that the institutional setup assures nationality-blind enforcement by EU competition regulators, even vis-à-vis non-EU based companies. The research also identifies key systemic factors which either constrain or empower the EU as a regulatory power in the competition policy domain. The empirical analysis draws on both quantitative data and in-depth studies of recent major cases. Most cases are from the period between September 1990 and August 2015, involving American and Japanese companies, which have a strong presence in European economies.EU competition policy is highly supranational and has a distinctive goal of market integration. In order to understand better how these features shape EU competition policy, this research proposes an original model of ‘stringent competition policy’, drawing on the theory of regulatory states. This model is more useful than the essentially neomercantilist model of strategic competition policy in explaining the EU’s enforcement without regard to the nationality of firms. Internally, the supranational institutional setting significantly constrains the ability of the member states to utilize their competition policies for neomercantilist and protectionist purposes. Regarding external consequences of this policy, the EU stringently enforces its competition rules regardless the nationality of firms involved in law infringements, though some cases involving non-EU firms were highly politicized and contested. To ensure that its stringent competition policy does not deteriorate the international competitiveness of European firms, the EU has been promoting competition policy externally, especially since the 1990s. However, the EU’s ability to play a leadership role in global multilateral fora is limited, despite its dedication and ambitions. This is because the EU’s regulatory power is fundamentally constrained by systemic factors such as a sharp increase in the number and heterogeneity of competition policies around the world, the deadlock of WTO negotiations on world competition law, and the emergence of transgovernmental networks such as the ICN. At the same time, these systemic factors have created the demand of younger competition authorities for reference points, if not models, and this opened up a window of opportunity for the EU to promote its competition policy rules and norms more extensively in third states. Overall, this research contributes to the EU competition policy literature by firmly placing it in a wider debate on competition and/versus competitiveness in the study of global political economy. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

It is often said that European Immigration Policy has been converged to civic integration policy, which requires immigrants to learn the culture, history, and language etc. of the host country. That trend of convergence is sometimes regarded as the European retreat from multiculturalism, and sometimes even as convergence to the assimilationism, and so called 'fortress Europe.' This doctoral thesis is aiming at attaining more sophisticated understanding of this phenomena, by conducting analyses both at the national level and European level. At national level, it challenges the common wisdom that civic integration basically aims at restricting migrants and tries to revalorize national citizenship, through comparative analysis of the Dutch and the German party politics at the stage of legislating key national civic integration policy. By doing so, it found that the diversity of national civic integration policy from liberal to restrictive. At the EU level, it challenges the assumption that the EU played a role in uploading national interests and promoted European convergence towards restrictive immigration policy. Through the analysis of each EU institution's attitude and their influence over national immigration policy. It tries to figure out the processes of negative Europeanization where the effects of EU laws and soft governance tools of the commission actually pre-emptively guide the national policy towards rather modest civic integration, and even prohibited national member states from adopting very restrictive policy at national level. From the combination of those findings, the thesis tries to propose new model of immigrant integration and citizenship acquisition, that is, 'phased integration model'. It interprets the convergence towards civic integration as institutionalization of immigrant integration path in each member states. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This research addresses the conflictualization dynamics induced by the politicization of religion at the supranational level. It tests the Union’s institutional capacity to routinize dissension, temper animosities, and reconcile divergences in the light of religiously-loaded, issue-specific controversies. So-called “morality issues” such as abortion or human embryonic stem cell research emerged onto the EU agenda at the end of the 1990s. The main sites of bioethical contention correspond to the European Parliament and Commission arenas, where political, social, and religious entrepreneurs have been pursuing ideological interests of either liberal or conservative nature. We developed an interpretative approach to their discourses and perceptions through the qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews and online documentary sources. A key task consisted in determining whether one observes the routinization of bioethical conflicts by European institutions (“business-as-usual” scenario) or whether the said conflicts are remaining extrinsic to the Brussels political game (“culture wars” scenario). In other words, is the emergence of new stakes – morality issues – prompting the emergence of new divisions and repertoires of action? We put to the test the normal course of EU politics in the light of (1) the structuration of morality divides along religious, political, and national frontlines; and (2) the materialization of morality antagonisms through discursive, bureaucratic, and mobilization weapons. Overall, the “polarization” and “political style” variables showed that the supranational debates on abortion and hESCR do not fully alter the logics of supranational governance; in return, the EU polity is not closed to the crystallization of politicized modes of dissent expression. The hypothesis of an intermediary scenario oscillating between policy-seeking and position-taking perspectives is thus confirmed. On the one hand, issue-specific alliances characterized by internal multifold diversities do play the institutional rules of the European political game in their quest for ideological influence on the decision-making process. On the other hand, limited supranational competences on religiously-loaded issues constrain conflicting factions’ leeway to a symbolic use of morality causes and beliefs as instrumental devices worth of credit-claiming and identity-posturing. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This research intends to explore the reverberations of the colonial experience in the European Union (EU) peacebuilding policy-making towards the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In particular, it aims at reconstructing the link between the European colonial past and the EU, in order to address to what extent such historical heritage is manifested in the discursive practices of EU peacebuilding policy-making towards the Democratic Republic of Congo.Thus, the thesis seeks to answer to the following research question: “How does the EU address the European colonial legacy in peacebuilding policy-making towards the Democratic Republic of Congo?” To do so, the research position itself in a critical conversation with EU Studies and Postcolonial Studies, and mobilises Discourse-Historical Approach influenced by Colonial Discourse Theory as a methodological tool. After having gathered interviews with EU Officials working on peacebuilding policies, having conducted archival research in the Historical Archives of the European Union and having undertaken participant observation at the European External Action Service, the results of this research are mainly twofold. Firstly, this study shows that within EU peacebuilding policy-makers the colonial legacy is hardly addressed. Yet, the EU relies on a dehistoricised regime where selective historical events are mobilised to the objective of legitimising EU peacebuilding actions. Secondly, the research identifies discursive strategies that reproduce colonial discourses in EU peacebuilding policy-making. These strategies, mainly based on racial stereotypes, connote an unchanging order based on a fixed donor/recipient binary. Such pervasive discourses tend to perpetuate dependency, instead of reaffirming an independent peace process that is supposed to be the final goal of EU peacebuilding policies. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Cette thèse identifie et analyse les revendications de légitimité des organisations régionales de sécurité par rapport à leurs actions et leur existence en tant que sites d’autorité relativement nouveaux. En effet, la recherche explore le contexte normatif qui sert de base au régionalisme sécuritaire entre le niveau global et le niveau national. A cet égard, la thèse propose un cadre conceptuel et théorique pour l’étude de l’autolégitimation qui est ici conçue comme un processus social dynamique et intersubjectif de justification du droit de gouverner. Ce cadre théorique combine les littératures sur la sécurité, le régionalisme, et la légitimité politique. Son objectif principal est l'identification des arguments de légitimation qui peuvent justifier des relations de pouvoir inégales entre gouvernants et gouvernés. Les études de cas de cette thèse sont les missions de sécurité et les politiques de gestion de crise de l'Union Africaine et de l'Union Européenne en réponse à la crise au Darfour (2003-) et les zones adjacentes, telles que le Tchad et la République Centrafricaine. A partir du concept d’autolégitimation et de l'analyse des documents produits par les deux organisations régionales, la partie empirique identifie quatre modes principaux de légitimation qui sont appelés « images du régionalisme sécuritaire ». Ces images sont le régionalisme bénéfique, le régionalisme nécessaire, le régionalisme inévitable, et le régionalisme multilatéral. Les images du régionalisme sécuritaire montrent que la légitimation des politiques et des actions, d'une part, et la légitimation des organisations régionales et de leur position au sein de la gouvernance de la sécurité, d’autre part, sont indissociables. En outre, elles révèlent également que, plus que la légitimation des actions, c’est souvent la légitimation de l'inaction qui est cruciale pour le rôle de ces organisations en tant qu’acteurs de sécurité. Enfin, les arguments de légitimation faisant référence au caractère multilatéral et collectif des actions entreprises par ces organisations régionales démontrent une tendance vers leur reconnaissance mutuelle et, par conséquent, contribuent à leur légitimation. / This thesis identifies and analyses the legitimacy claims of regional security organizations in relation to their policies and their existence as relatively new sites of authority. Hence, it explores the normative context underpinning security regionalism between global and national levels. In this regard, it proposes a conceptual and theoretical framework for the study of self- legitimation, which is understood as a dynamic and intersubjective social process of justification of the right to rule. This framework is based on the intersection between the literatures on security, regionalism, and political legitimacy. Its main focus is the identification of the arguments of legitimation that can justify the unequal power relations between rulers and ruled. This thesis’ case studies are the security missions and policies of crisis management of the African Union and the European Union in response to the crisis in Darfur (2003-) and adjacent areas such as Chad and Central African Republic. Building on the framework of self-legitimation and on the analysis of documents produced by both regional organizations, the empirical part identifies fours large patterns of arguments, which are called ‘images of security regionalism’. These images are the beneficial regionalism, the necessary regionalism, the inevitable regionalism, and the multilateral regionalism. The images of security regionalism show that the legitimation of policies and actions, on the one hand, and the legitimation of regional organizations and their positions within security governance, on the other, are indissociable. Moreover, they also reveal that, more than the legitimation of actions, it is often the legitimation of the perceived inaction that is crucial to the organizations’ role as a security actors. Finally, the patterns of arguments referring to the inter-organizational relations and to the multilateral and collective character of the organizations’ policies point to a trend of mutual recognition and, by consequence, mutual legitimation among regional organizations. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La thèse étudie les interactions entre les correspondants bruxellois et leur milieu de travail.Elle adopte une perspective centrée sur les acteurs. Comment l’arène bruxelloise structure et est structurée par les pratiques et représentations des correspondants issus des Etats ayant adhéré à l’Union depuis 2004 ?L’étude de cette partie du corps de presse permet de comprendre les dynamiques à l’oeuvre dans la relation entre l’Union européenne et les médias.Les correspondants des nouveaux Etats membres proviennent des contextes socio-politiques et médiatiques marqués par le passé (post)communiste. Ils trouvent à Bruxelles un univers professionnel qui peut constituer à la fois un modèle de référence, mais aussi une source de déstabilisation. En même temps, ils peuvent contribuer à certains remaniements enclenchés par les élargissements. Deux larges hypothèses sont proposées. L’une conçoit les correspondants des nouveaux Etats membres comme des révélateurs des dynamiques propres au milieu bruxellois. L’autre les perçoit plutôt comme des sources de changement. Le corpus principal est constitué des entretiens semi-directifs avec les correspondants et d’autres acteurs de la sphère de communication bruxelloise. Des périodes d’observation complètent les entretiens. Ces données sont interprétées grâce à une analyse qualitative de contenu conjuguée à certaines techniques discursives. En ressort un constat d’une triple normalisation. La socialisation aux réalités de l’UE contribue à la banalisation de l’ordre politique européen. Le statut de membre de ces Etats est pris pour acquis. Enfin, on observe une routinisation du travail des correspondants issus des pays nouvellement entrés. Leurs spécificités réelles et imaginées perdent d’acuité. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT :The thesis analyses the ways Brussels press corps interacts with its work environment. Our goal is to understand how Brussels ‘milieu’ structures and is structured by practices and representations of media correspondents from New Member States (from 2004 onwards). The political, social and media contexts of these countries are potentially marked by their (post)communist past. Coming to Brussels may provide an opportunity for these journalists to reassess their behavioral and cognitive schemes. Thus, looking at this specific part of the press corps enables us to grasp the dynamics of European socialization and the relationship between the European Union and the media. Along with correspondents’ adaptation, we are also interested in discovering any transformations caused or facilitated by the arrival of these new players to Brussels. Two large hypotheses are formulated. In the first one, New Member States’ correspondents adapt to the specificities of Brussels arena. The second one is depicting them as a source of change. Our main empirical corpus is composed of interviews with correspondents and other actors of the Brussels communication sphere. Interviews are complemented by periods of observation. The resulting data is interpreted using qualitative content analysis together with some discourse analysis techniques. Our results point to a triple normalization. Exposition to Brussels reality leads to a banalization of European political order, general acceptation of membership status of newly joined countries and a routinization of their correspondents’ practices. Both imagined and tangible specificities of New Member States’ correspondents have diminished. Those players are not perceived as significantly distinct from the rest of the press corps. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

It is widely agreed that a society must guarantee a social minimum to all its members. Yet, the organisation of social protection within the European Union (EU) is insufficient to protect all Europeans effectively against the risk of poverty and social exclusion. Against this backdrop, this thesis investigates whether a European universal basic income (EUBI) is, if at all, a worthwhile policy to address the problem of poverty in the EU.The central claim of the study posits that there are strong reasons to consider a partial EUBI as a desirable instrument for EU-wide poverty alleviation. Under this scenario, the EU works as a complementary welfare layer offering systemic support to its Member States’ welfare models whilst respecting the diversity of national social protection arrangements. At the same time, as an instrument of pan-European solidarity, the EUBI provides substance to EU social citizenship.The method used is problem-oriented and interdisciplinary, combining insights from political theory, political economy and EU studies writ large. After having layed out the various dimensions underpinning the problem of poverty in the EU and clarified the contours of the solution under scrutiny, the thesis confronts the EUBI with a series of challenges, ranging from normative issues associated with the unconditionality of the basic income and the pursuit of social justice in the EU, to the institutional hurdles pertaining to the legal feasibility of the proposal, via the macroeconomic difficulties related to the diversity of interdependent economies.Overall, this contribution examines an idea which remains unexplored in EU studies and proposes a new approach to European anti-poverty strategy. It also bridges the gap between EU social policy and basic income literatures, beyond established boundaries of research compartmentalisation. As such, it prepares the ground for further fine-tuned research in the areas covered by this comprehensive multi-dimensional analysis. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

L’objectif de cette recherche est de caractériser les discours qui construisent des acteurs-clés de l’univers politique européen en mouvance :les eurorégions. Des discours (institutionnels, économiques, médiatiques) produits en plusieurs langues au sujet de ces entités transfrontalières encore méconnues ont été recueillis sur le web, principal vecteur de la communication eurorégionale. Ils comportent au moins une occurrence du mot eurorégion ou de ses traductions. À l’aide d’une méthode qualitative adossée aux concepts éprouvés de formation discursive et de scénario sémiotique, la thèse relève les procédés mobilisés pour construire le nouveau référent collectif eurorégional. On montre notamment comment, dans le contexte spécifique de l’intégration européenne, l’appui sur l’histoire souvent fantasmée de la construction européenne encourage la transformation des acteurs frontaliers, déplace le cadre de leur action et propose les eurorégions en modèles d’une nouvelle Europe. En faisant du concept de groupe d’intérêt la pierre angulaire de l’analyse, la thèse met progressivement au jour des procédés de reconnaissance et de visibilité qui permettent aux eurorégions de devenir des entités collectives capables d’agir dans le monde social. La recherche se démarque par sa tentative d’inscrire l’analyse sémiodiscursive dans une perspective pluridisciplinaire :du point de vue méthodologique, le recours à la textométrie permet la modélisation d’un corpus multilingue non parallèle, matériau non encore traité en analyse du discours ;du point de vue de l’analyse, le recours à la science politique réactive le lien immanent entretenu par la notion de dispositif avec des enjeux de pouvoir. Il s’agit d’un travail qui tente d’apporter de nouvelles connaissances dans le champ encore peu exploré de l’analyse de discours d’appareils politico-administratifs transnationaux en lien avec le discours institutionnel européen. / Doctorat en Information et communication / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

This thesis investigates what it means to view disruptive innovation as a political problem. I take my point of departure in the tendency for controversial disruptions in heavily regulated sectors, such as electronic cigarettes or hydraulic fracturing, to open regulatory spaces by challenging established expectations about how they ought to be governed. In the wake of such disruption, policy actors with a stake in the matter engage in sensemaking and discursive contests to control the meaning of the innovations in order to close the regulatory spaces by aligning them with one set of laws instead of another. I study these contests in two recent legislative initiatives of the European Union to address the disruptive potential of e-cigarettes and fracking: the 2014 revision of the Tobacco Products Directive and the 2014 Commission recommendations on unconventional fossil fuels. The research draws on 51 interviews carried out with key policy actors during and after the policy debates. I bolster this with an analysis of policy documents, press releases and scientific studies, as well as a content and network analysis of position statements in newspaper articles. I find that the strategic use of rhetoric and framing plays an important part in creating, maintaining, and entrenching opposed coalitions in both policy debates. In both case studies, the policy solution is accompanied by deteriorating levels of trust among participants, leading coalitions to engage in strategies of venue-shopping to circumvent their opponents. This underscores the significant challenges there are for policymakers to address disruptions while maintaining legitimacy. The original contribution of the thesis lies in its novel conceptualization of disruptive innovation as a political problem, its application of micro-sociological approaches to the politics of expertise and European public policy, and its practical and theoretical suggestions for how to better study periods of disruption and govern through them. / Doctorat en Sciences politiques et sociales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished